


Days Marked with Stones and Sorrows

by ThereIsNoTragedyInThat



Series: Fratt Week 2020 [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fratt Week 2020, Friendship, Gen, Matt Murdock Needs a Hug, Pre-Slash, Protective Frank Castle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24404137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat/pseuds/ThereIsNoTragedyInThat
Summary: Matt found he wasn't the least bit surprised that Frank knew where to find him, in a cemetery on the day his father died.
Relationships: Frank Castle & Matt Murdock
Series: Fratt Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759633
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58
Collections: Fratt Week





	Days Marked with Stones and Sorrows

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Fratt Week event and the prompt: Date

Matt stared down at the tombstone inscribed with his father’s name. The day was chilly, a thin layer of frost coating the grass and making the air seem crisp and fragile. It was early, much too early to be standing here pretending in silence, fingers tingling with urge to reach out and trace the brail on the stone. It had cost a pretty penny; he was sure of it, but they’d pitied the kid whose father was to be buried with little to show for it. Matt wasn’t going to complain, it brought some small comfort in a way. 

In his pocket, Matt’s phone was on vibrate. He rarely did that unless he was in court, preferring to hear who exactly was calling him, but not this time, this time he knew exactly who had been trying to reach him for the past few hours. Foggy loved him, Matt knew that didn’t just go away, no matter how many mistakes he’d made, and despite everything, he was trying to reach out, to bridge the gap even just for a little while, for a day so rife with pain. 

Matt hadn’t known how to tell him these past years…that it no longer broke his heart like it used to, that he didn’t need to be coddled and treated with gentle hands on the day of his father’s death. He just wanted peace and quiet, some time to contemplate and remember the good moments and forget the bad. Easier said then done of course, Matt had a lot to think about these days and it all came back to his father. 

The realization that he clearly had ‘daddy issues’ was more amusing then anything. He hoped, one day, when he saw his father again, he would be proud of him. Accepting of Matt’s decision to fight for Hell’s Kitchen, for the place they both called home and had loved so much. Not that they hadn’t hated it too, good days and bad days, it was all about the balance. 

Balance. That was what Foggy couldn’t understand, didn’t want to. Matt wasn’t fighting to eradicate all the scum crawling through his city, he wasn’t so delusional as to think that was possible, no he was just trying to tip the scales a bit. He wanted the good and the bad to be a little more even, a little more survivable. Matt just hadn’t realized how long its been since the scales were even in the same hemisphere.

Footsteps encased in heavy boots. The slight tang of metal in the air. The movement of a thick, army style jacket. Matt tilted his head a bit, taking in the approach of a visitor from behind him, felt his lips twist in surprise, hands tightening on his walking stick. Strangely, Matt found himself not the least bit annoyed, in fact, he felt his muscles relax at his approach and none of the usual irritation at being interrupted. 

“Hiya Red.”

Matt smiled. Didn’t say anything as Frank stepped up next to him, barely a hairsbreadth away. There was a gun on him, no two guns, attached at the hip and ankle, loaded and safety on, a knife strapped to his belt on the other side, yet Matt could sense how little he believed he’d need it today. Friend not foe. 

Frank hadn’t been a foe in a very long time. 

“This your old man?”

Matt still didn’t look at him, raised an eyebrow, “what gave it away?”

“The braille mostly and the name.” 

“How did you know?” Matt inquired softly. It was a loaded question, meant to get to the bottom of several questions at once, figure out what Frank’s motivation was. 

“I looked it up. After I figured out who you were, I thought I should get to know my enemies,” he grunted. “Found out you were playing hero since you were a kid.”

Matt grimaced at the comment. He’d never gotten use to that, even when he was younger and tied up in the hospital, the praise and pity constantly being heaped on him by his father, the doctors, the nurses. What he had done that day had been instinctual, the old man stumbling across the road and the incoming truck, he’d just done it, without thinking. Matt didn’t consider that heroic, there had been no choice in it. Heroism was making the choice to help someone, consciously, even with your own life at the risk of being forfeited for theirs. Otherwise, it was just lucky…or unlucky as some might have considered in his case. 

“That’s nice of you Frank,” Matt commented. “That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.” 

There was a light chuckle, the air vibrating in Frank’s ribcage, “wasn’t hard to figure out. I visit my family’s grave on the day that they died. Why wouldn’t you?”

Matt’s brow furrowed but he didn’t comment. It still wasn’t an explanation, not by a long shot, as to why he was here. Honestly, he didn’t care how he found him, he just cared about what he wanted. Still, something hung in the air, something delicate that he was weary of crushing with a harsh question. 

“Just ask Red. You’ve got more restraint then I ever did on the day of their death.”

Matt hesitated, chose to ignore the pressing question for a moment, “you came even though you expected me to tell you to fuck off?”

“Yeah.”

“Fine. Why did you come?”

“Because…in your own messed up way, you were there for me,” Frank’s voice was rough, embarrassment colouring the tone beneath. “I don’t know why but you never gave up. You and your stupid heroism and your stupid law firm just kept on coming for me, coming at me, even when I told you to get lost. I don’t get it…and it pisses me off but I haven’t had that for a long time and I believe in returning favours.”

Matt should be stunned. He wasn’t. This was just another facet of Frank’s ambiguous moral code sliding into place. The more he learned about the man, the more he made sense, and the more he was certain he made the right decision not to kill him and instead to fight for him. 

Reaching over, Matt rested a careful hand on his shoulder, “Thanks Frank.”

“Sure Red.” 

The silence that descended around them almost felt comforting, like this was where they would always end up, by each other’s side quiet and sad but not alone, never alone. 


End file.
